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In the wake of England’s game with Moldova, we unfurl our England flags once more and strap on our international game heads. Everyone always remembers the England greats, the likes of Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton, Peter Shilton and David Beckham. Everyone also seems to remember the one-cap wonders as well, the likes of Michael Ricketts, Francis Jeffers and Steve Guppy who should never have been allowed anywhere near an England shirt. However, since caps are handed out like confetti these days, many player appear for the Three Lions without ever really registering on anyone’s radar, in fact you’d be surprised to hear many of the names that have turned out for this country.

Some simply weren’t good enough to play for England, while others struggled with injuries. Certain individuals may have been the victim of a certain manager’s selection policy or perhaps found themselves behind a truly world class player in the race for the starting XI, costing them more appearances. Either way, there are numerous players who deserved to pull on the white shirt on more occasions and we run through the Top 10 Unluckiest England players who should have been capped more often:

Featuring some content from Unibet (check out their site here), we bring you some of the Premier League’s greatest comebacks after Robin Van Persie’s hat-trick on Sunday was the latest as Manchester United fought back to win 3-2 at Southampton. But in the last two decades there have been countless comebacks in the greatest league in the world, with some with late, late goals. Here is United’s fight back and six others…

7. Southampton 2 Manchester United 3 – 2/9/2012

The newly promoted side were ahead twice, but thanks to an RVP hat-trick the Red Devils took the points. The Dutchman even managed to miss a penalty en route.

6. Manchester City 2 Fulham 3 – 26/4/2008

A pivotal game for The Cottagers, who would have been staring relegation in the face had they lost. And, after going 2-0 down early on it looked like their Premier League status was indeed doomed. But a double from Diomansy Kamara and a goal from Danny Murphy meant they lived to fight another day and eventually stayed up.

5. Arsenal 4 Tottenham 4 – 29/10/2009

Tottenham feature heavily in this list, and here they are with a late fight back to salvage a point at arch rivals Arsenal. The Gunners were 3-1 up and cruising, but a late Spurs rally saw Aaron Lennon equalise in the final minute.

4. Tottenham 4 Aston Villa 4 – 1/10/2007

Spurs again here, celebrating their 125th anniversary with a fight back at home to Aston Villa. The Villans were 4-1 up, but the home side, roared on by the White Hart Lane crowd, battled back with Youness Kaboul notching a leveller in the 90th minute.

3. Chelsea 2 Arsenal 3 – 3/10/1999

Did you know Kanu is STILL playing football! The 83-year-old is currently looking for a club, but back in 1999 he was at the height of his powers and scored this wonderful hat-trick at Chelsea. The Blues had been 2-0 up with half an hour to go, but the Nigerian had other ideas and capped it with a brilliant curled winner.

2. Tottenham 3 Manchester United 5 – 25/9/2001

Tottenham yet again feature here, but Spurs fans won’t thank us for bringing this one up. Their side were 3-0 up at home to the Red Devils at half-time but Ferguson’s side fought back and scored five in the second half to well and truly turn this game around.

1. Newcastle 4 Arsenal 4 – 5/2/2011

Simply the greatest Premier League comeback ever: Newcastle were 4-0 down to the Gunners at half-time, and had barely touched the ball before the interval. But Pardew’s troops came out all guns blazing in the second half, stunning Arsenal with a barrage of brilliance which culminated in a late, late, Cheick Tiote volley that sealed a dramatic point.

Last weekend’s Premier League results did not make for pretty reading for our would-be experts. Our guest Billy Prendergast scored a quite frankly pitiful three points, and Matt Birchall could only manage one more than that. Tom Mordey may have scored a solid seven points but, truth be told, was rescued from disaster by two correct score predictions having only correctly predicted the results of three of the nine games. Nigel Adkins will be cursing his luck after the Saints twice threw away the lead against visitors Man United, leaving them without a point after their first three games despite deserving at least a draw against both Manchester clubs. Arsenal finally managed to score and looked like the Gunners of old against a Liverpool side that had looked imperious against champions Man City last week. Brendan Rodgers has come out in the press to say he regrets the decision to let Andy Carroll go without having a replacement but he should also be concerned by Pepe Reina, who looks less like a world-class goalkeeper with each passing week.

Predictions

Result

Billy Prendergast

Tom Mordey

Matt Birchall

West Ham v Fulham

3-0

1-2

1-1

1-0

Swansea v Sunderland

2-2

1-0

2-0

2-1

Tottenham v Norwich

1-1

3-1

3-1

3-0

West Brom v Everton

2-0

0-1

1-1

1-2

Wigan v Stoke

2-2

0-0

1-0

1-1

Man City v QPR

3-1

5-0

3-1

2-1

Liverpool v Arsenal

0-2

0-0

2-0

2-0

Newcastle v Aston Villa

1-1

2-0

1-1

2-1

Southampton v Man United

2-3

0-3

1-4

0-2

A correct result is worth ONE point; a correct score is worth THREE points.

1. Brendan Rodgers has a big, big job on his hands reviving Liverpool’s fortunes. A poor start to the season and a poor transfer window to boot. All is not well at Anfield.

2. Sunday afternoon saw the explosion of Arsenal fans across the country, no, not because they went and won 2-0 at Anfield, but because of events at the St Mary’s Stadium. A Van Persie hat-trick, completed in stoppage time is a painful reminder of what they’ve lost.

3. Credit to Steve Clarke who’s just led West Brom to their best ever Premier League start after beating Everton 2-0. Line him up as the next England manager!

4. Andy Carroll will fit into West Ham’s system perfectly, mark my words. Two assists on his debut before injury ruined his big day, but he’s perfectly suited to Sam Allardyce’s tactics. Not pretty, but certainly effective.

5. Wigan seem to have a few more Premier League goals in them this year, which must be pleasing for Roberto Martinez. Franco Di Santo has also scored five in his last eight games, impressive stuff for a striker at the DW Stadium.

6. Has AVB made the same mistakes at Spurs as he did with Chelsea? Clear out the deadwood too quickly and the balance of the squad alters dramatically. A draw with Norwich has ensured their worst start to a Premier League season for four years.

7. Steven Fletcher overpriced at £12 million? Not on that evidence. Nice little double to start your Sunderland career and end Swansea’s 100% record. Has Martin O’Neill done it again in the transfer market?

8. Hatem Ben Arfa really is a quality player. His brilliant goal earned the Toon Army a point and although Newcastle and Pardew may be struggling slightly at the moment, with the Frenchman in their ranks, they can always count on a few special moments.

9. Say what you like about Arsenal’s transfer policy, but Arsene Wenger might have pulled off an absolute masterstroke in signing Santi Cazorla. Once again at the heart of everything and marked the game against Liverpool with his first Gunners goal. Class act.

10. City may be unbeaten, but they really don’t look convincing at all. Clean sheets are hard to come by at the moment and Mancini doesn’t look happy with his lot, especially after the transfer window slammed shut. Champions League could be make or break.

This week we are joined by Billy Prendergast, who was part of the Present side that won last month’s Boiler Room Fives competition in London (http://fc.boilerroom.tv/the-boiler-room-fives-2012-video-team-photos/). Billy is a life-long Arsenal fan and has lived up to his reputation for being somewhat biased towards the Gunners with an optimistic prediction that they will extend their run of goalless draws this weekend at Anfield. Swansea and Everton may be the only two teams that can leapfrog Chelsea and go top of the table this weekend, but after their embarrassing 4-1 defeat in the Super Cup Chelsea are looking far less formidable than their start to the season suggested.

Predictions

Billy Prendergast

Tom Mordey

Matt Birchall

West Ham v Fulham

1-2

1-1

1-0

Swansea v Sunderland

1-0

2-0

2-1

Tottenham v Norwich

3-1

3-1

3-0

West Brom v Everton

0-1

1-1

1-2

Wigan v Stoke

0-0

1-0

1-1

Man City v QPR

5-0

3-1

2-1

Liverpool v Arsenal

0-0

2-0

2-0

Newcastle v Aston Villa

2-0

1-1

2-1

Southampton v Man United

0-3

1-4

0-2

A correct result is worth ONE point, a correct score is worth THREE points.

Having sold Robin Van Persie to Manchester United, Arsenal have announced an official end to their partnership with Manchester City as their official feeder club. City’s demand for first refusal on all the Gunners’ players was rejected after Arsenal were only offered a picture of the Premier League trophy to remind them what it looks like.

Meanwhile, the Gunners had to undergo a hasty rebranding of the club’s identity after Van Persie’s exit. They had planned to rename the team ‘The Robin Van Persie XI’ following his one-man efforts last season. Although Arsene Wenger stopped short of admitting that Arsenal would have only taken to the pitch with Van Persie on the pitch for the new season, he did admit his departure left him with 11 holes to fill in the team.

Despite Manchester City winning the Community Shield against Chelsea by three goals to two, John Terry is spotted wrestling the trophy off skipper Vincent Kompany in full City kit, including shin pads. As Kompany goes to raise the trophy aloft, Terry nips in, grabs it out of his hands and raises it triumphantly to the whole stadium before embarking on a lap of honour with all the City players chasing him.

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez reunites former England front pair Michael Owen and Emile Heskey in his desperation for new signings. The move works well in the first game against Chelsea as Owen grabs a double from two Heskey knock downs, but Big Emile sets a few unwanted Premiership records having been caught offside a record 46 times and hit the corner flag with 7 stray shots.

Everton manager David Moyes gets annoyed with the press after his team remain unbeaten during August thanks to Moyes deploying the 4-6-0 formation that Spain used in the Euros. After newspapers congratulated the Scot on copying Vicente Del Bosque’s tactics, Moyes loses his temper, replying that he hasn’t played or even bought a capable striker for the best part of six years now and no one ever gave him any recognition for that.

Chelsea have had to refund their fans who watched their first home game of the season with Reading. Boss Roberto Di Matteo forgot that in the Premier League, the game is decided after 90 minutes and not on penalties. This meant his tactic of placing all 11 men on the line and allowing Reading to have the ball all game didn’t work and the Blues were booed off by a disgruntled Stamford Bridge crowd.

Luis Suarez is in trouble with the FA again after running up to the referee and yelling ‘Bellend’ in his face 15 times. Suarez pleaded his innocence when questioned by the authorities, explaining that in Uruguay, ‘bellenda’ was a slang term they used for corner and that he thought Liverpool had won a corner. However, he couldn’t explain the jerking movements he made with his hand in the nether regions of his waist, simply starting to say ‘In my country, it means…’ before stopping and accepting his punishment.

The second weekend of Premier League football brought more goals and drama, unless you were watching Arsenal’s £38m signings fail to get off the mark. Everton surprised everyone with their victory over Man United in their opening game, especially given their reputation as perennial slow-starters, but it is clear that David Moyes’ decision to begin pre-season training early is paying dividends, as the Toffees cruised to a 3-1 win at Villa Park. Southampton failed to show the same fight that they did against Man City last week as they slumped to defeat at home to Wigan, and the postponement of the Sunderland-Reading game had the media blaming Sunderland’s management while the rest of us were bemoaning another woeful English summer. Tony Parr will be sticking to the day job after picking up a meagre four points this week, but Tom Mordey will be soldiering on despite racking up just five points. Finally, Matt Birchall reached eight points, bringing our two in-house pundits level on average after two weeks.

Predictions

Result

Tony Parr

Tom Mordey

Matt Birchall

Swansea v West Ham

3-0

3-1

1-1

2-0

Aston Villa v Everton

1-3

0-1

0-0

1-1

Man United v Fulham

3-2

3-1

3-1

3-0

Norwich v QPR

1-1

2-2

2-0

0-0

Southampton v Wigan

0-2

2-0

2-2

2-1

Sunderland v Reading

P-P

1-1

2-0

0-1

Tottenham v West Brom

1-1

2-1

2-1

1-0

Chelsea v Newcastle

2-0

2-2

2-0

3-1

Stoke v Arsenal

0-0

1-2

1-1

0-1

Liverpool v Man City

2-2

1-3

1-3

2-2

A correct result is worth ONE point, a correct score is worth THREE points.